Tires, as a vehicle's sole link with the roadway, play a key role in automotive safety and also have an indirect influence on fuel consumption, as well as many other characteristics. Rubber tires, such as those used in transportation, are conventionally prepared with a rubber tread. Such rubber tread is often composed of a specified rubber composition. Some desired attributes of high performance tires include a low rolling resistance (e.g., the force resisting the motion when a tire rolls on the surface), high-wear resistance, and a high level of grip on slick surfaces such as wet or damp roads.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,318,861 discloses a rubber composition capable of using in a tread rubber of a tire to improve both an initial gripping performance and a running stability of the tire as compared with those of conventional tires.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 2004/0092644 discloses a cross-linkable or cross-linked rubber composition which is usable to constitute a tread of a tire, to such a tread having in particular improved wear resistance, and to a tire having improved endurance by incorporating this tread.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,629,408 discloses a tire tread comprising a rubber composition based on at least a diene elastomer, a reinforcing inorganic filler such as silica, an inorganic filler/elastomer coupling agent and carbon black in a very small quantity having a significantly improved grip on wet roads.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 2013/0153100 discloses a tire tread having a configuration and material properties that improve wet traction. This results in better wet traction and a shorter stopping distance during the braking event.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 2014/0251519 discloses tire treads having one or more repeating pitches. The tread blocks are also formed from a rubber composition based upon a diene elastomer, a plasticizing system and a cross-linking system.
There exists an ongoing need for improved compositions for the preparation of tire components able to provide a desirable balance between low rolling resistance and good-wet traction.